Don't build 'em like they used to....

[tasker89]

So...I've been sourcing parts to put together a pair of Classic valved guns. To accomplish this I recently acquired a Minimag on Ebay. The gun's serial # is in the mid 6000s (MM #) The gun was in excellent shape when I bought it...but it clearly had been shelved for a long, long time. I cleaned it up and hooked it up. Shoots fine. I'd guess it has been sitting for close to a decade unused.

Next up I swapped the bolt onto my other valve body (a rare FRG HyperMag valve) which has also been sitting for about 12 years. Gas it up...off it goes.

No Chinese stuff here ladies and gents!

:clap:

TK designed and built them right. Kudos!!

[Sumthinwicked]

my x valved mag was outta a parts bin that hanst seen the light in 8 years and was kicking around its alow low number :eek:

[Beemer]

Shhh, dont tell everyone its a secret. :dance:

[Chrome]

A question for those who have been around as long as these guns. . . :D :hail:

How did the serial numbers go on the different valves? What do the letters mean and where did the numbering start/stop?

The oldest one (I think) I've got is CF04974 - it is the first one I got and the one I've been using. Just trying to learn a little about the vintage. It has a foamie bolt (sans foamie), which I'm assuming is not original?

[drg]

Dirty secret is there are a lot of guns, yes some of them outsourced, that can sit for a long time and still operate.

Paintball guns are not that complicated. It's mostly about seals and the lube you use ... a KC-fed spyder from 10 years ago would gas up and shoot fine today.

[Beemer]

Dirty secret is there are a lot of guns, yes some of them outsourced, that can sit for a long time and still operate.

Paintball guns are not that complicated. It's mostly about seals and the lube you use ... a KC-fed spyder from 10 years ago would gas up and shoot fine today.

Ya I guess but I ran over my Mag with my Truck after it took me an hour to get it out of the lake. :D and it still worked fine. :cool:

[drg]

Ya I guess but I ran over my Mag with my Truck after it took me an hour to get it out of the lake. :D

Sounds like a Stingray ad :p

[Beemer]

Paintball guns are not that complicated. It's mostly about seals and the lube you use ... a KC-fed spyder from 10 years ago would gas up and shoot fine today.

Lube you dont need no stinking lube. Thats a myth Mags like ALOT of lube. A FEW DROPS WILL DO YA. We used to run em dry and thats no lie. ;)

Note my edit in last post didnt finish post doh.....

[tasker89]

Dirty secret is there are a lot of guns, yes some of them outsourced, that can sit for a long time and still operate. Paintball guns are not that complicated. It's mostly about seals and the lube you use ... a KC-fed spyder from 10 years ago would gas up and shoot fine today.

...and it will still be a Spyder. It will still be made of pot-metal, it will still be machined for ****, it will still have lousy tolerances, etc., etc., etc.

I don't have a weakness for outsourced junk. I do have a weakness for AGD.

[drg]

Lube you dont need no stinking lube. Thats a myth Mags like ALOT of lube. A FEW DROPS WILL DO YA. We used to run em dry and thats no lie. ;)

Note my edit in last post didnt finish post doh.....

Uhh the point is not how much lube but the type (and how fast it attacks your seals).


...and it will still be a Spyder. It will still be made of pot-metal, it will still be machined for ****, it will still have lousy tolerances, etc., etc., etc.

I don't have a weakness for outsourced junk. I do have a weakness for AGD.

Then be honest about it, don't try to make some false comparison about how guns were made now and then. Plenty of clunkers and quality pieces were made in just about all eras.

Nor is the outsourcing argument valid. Most modern quality pieces are not outsourced.

[MANN]

Lube you dont need no stinking lube. Thats a myth Mags like ALOT of lube. A FEW DROPS WILL DO YA. We used to run em dry and thats no lie. ;)


:nono:

runing without lube will only cause problems. This applies to just about everything.

[punkncat]

Got to throw my .02 in here....I am likewise amazed at how well and easily old Mags come back to life......but the exact same can be said for many markers. Pull a spyder off any shelf that has been sitting since back into memory. IF you have to change anything at all, it 'might' be a striker oring. Even if you had to rebuild the whole thing, it take s five minutes and just about as many tank orings and you are done. Similar could be said for old Tippys. I have a Stingray in there that I know for fact has not been fired in 12 years, and I would almost be willing to bet my shorts that I can go out back and shoot it right now with no work.

The simple fact that it works the way it was supposed to, even after long periods of not being used is not unique to just AGD equipment........and is really more a testament to the orings inside than the marker they reside in.

[Lohman446]

True - but building in a life cycle has supported the companies at the top of the food chain in paintball at this time.

Where would Dye be if the DM9 wasn't different than the DM4? Or the shocker NXT vs SFT. The fact of the matter is there is a knowledge that it benefits them to build markers that don't last a life time. Its a sport now, the agglets can convince mommy and daddy to spend the money.

Even though it was more expensive back in the day we were using our own discretionary money. If we were paying $800 for a marker we expected it to last. And the companies then built products that lived up to those expectations. Then again, back then we all knew it was a game :) .

[punkncat]

Yeah unfortunate that planned obsolesence is a part of the design of most everything made today(not talking just paintball)......It kinda cramps my butt a bit....lol.

[tasker89]

Then be honest about it, don't try to make some false comparison about how guns were made now and then. Plenty of clunkers and quality pieces were made in just about all eras. Nor is the outsourcing argument valid. Most modern quality pieces are not outsourced.

It isn't an ARGUMENT, don't be pedantic...it was a STATEMENT OF OPINION. There was nothing dishonest about what I wrote.

You are right...there were lots of clunkers built back in the day. AGD's stuff could never be lumped into that category. Forgive me for acting like a AGD fanboy on AO...my mistake. :rolleyes:

[Spider-TW]

I wonder, in the alternate universe of year model mags, would there be CNC valves? Someday, someone will be able to take a slug body, slug rail, and slug frame, and CNC machine the whole thing into one whole matched set, one new set each year like a DM. :sleeping:

[Watcher]

My old RT classic was "rescued" from 2 years in a dusty closet, the valve was rebuilt entirely and screws had to be drilled out.

About a week later it was shooting like BNIB!

:cheers:

[DamianTC]

ok its a friday night... and in my drunken state.. I am about to run out to my SUV and grab my first classic mag that I bought back in '97 just to see the serial number.. I never actually looked at it..... If your wondering... I still use my first mag as my backup... that is behind my Emag and ULE RT Pro............ BRB

[Ravenneon]

ok its a friday night... and in my drunken state.. I am about to run out to my SUV and grab my first classic mag that I bought back in '97 just to see the serial number.. I never actually looked at it..... If your wondering... I still use my first mag as my backup... that is behind my Emag and ULE RT Pro............ BRB


He must have passed out on the way to the truck...lol

[DamianTC]

LOL I couldn't find it last night. it was in my gear bag in the basement. the serial is CF40505.

Isn't that differnet? like Center Fire or something? That was the first time i ever looked at the serial number on it in 12 years

[deathbypaint1213]

LOL I couldn't find it last night. it was in my gear bag in the basement. the serial is CF40505.

Isn't that differnet? like Center Fire or something? That was the first time i ever looked at the serial number on it in 12 years

Interesting. I have a Center Fire Mag, it has two serial numbers. MM17517 (on the right side of the valve) and 0168 (on the top of the regulator).

[secretweaponevan]

Interesting. I have a Center Fire Mag, it has two serial numbers. MM17517 (on the right side of the valve) and 0168 (on the top of the regulator).

MM = Minimag valve half.

0168 on top Might have been one of the Pro-mags modded by John Sosta IIRC.

Can you snap a pic of the number on top of the valve?

Edit: after looking at the pic here: http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/rare-old-guns/63102-john-sosta-pro-mag-342-agd-euro-high-rise-classic-body.html
It might not be a Pro-mag half.

Still, can you snap a pic?

[Nick E]

MM is on minimag valve. I'm sure everyone can figure that out. I think xvalves all have VV as a prefix.

[deathbypaint1213]

<a href="http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad315/deathbypaint1213/?action=view&current=Image005.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad315/deathbypaint1213/Image005.jpg" border="0" alt="automag valve"></a>

The only camera I had was on my phone, kind of blurry

[DamianTC]

Why would my valve number be CF40505 and it doesn't have the C/F logo on the valve like in the picture above?

[FiXeL]

CF prefix is a classic valve. The logo is something of a modification done to the valve i believe, just als the U.K. made promag valves have a separate logo and serial number bead blasted into them.

CF - Classic valve
MM - Minimag
RT - RT valve? (not sure, dont have one)
VV - Xvalve
XT - Xmag valve
EM - Emag valve (also some STD Xmags were fitted with emag valves)
GFX - Pro Team Products Micromag valves

Either way, i love mags for what they are. Unquestionable quality. (fanboy alert!) I've only been playing for 4 years now, but from what ive seen and owned that's on the market today, there's not really much out there that will impress me. Sure, a automag sucks air like a tippmann and the emag frames have issues sometimes, but i've never ever had issues with a mech mag. Almost always chronoes right, rarely have to adjust, always works, always shoots darts with the right barrel. Compared to the tippmann crowd im really blessed... There's not one day of play that i can recall that there is atleast one tippie with issues. Trouble chrono-ing, trouble with the cyclone feed, cocking issues.

I've also seen lots of markers malfunction and i've had to loan out one of my mags to the poor sobs so they could play. And never heard any complaints, only compliments on how well the gun shoots. :headbang:

I'm not going to buy a fancy electro marker that has flexi-ruin-your-board-when-you-do-a-superman-dive-gripframe soon.. :D

[MANN]

I'm not going to buy a fancy electro marker that has flexi-ruin-your-board-when-you-do-a-superman-dive-gripframe soon.. :D

yes, but you have to admit that it is hard to do a superman with an E/Xmag. They weigh too much to hold out and dive like that.

[FiXeL]

Well, in that rare case you do, atleast they dont bend. :D